Daily Archives: September 29, 2019
SDRPY Greets UK Parliamentary Delegation in Riyadh
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — On Wednesday, a British parliamentary delegation headed by MP John Woodcock was welcomed at the headquarters of the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) in Riyadh. Also attending the meeting from the British side were MP Graham Jones; Mr. Peter Welby of the Institute for Global Change; Ms. Charlotte Leslie, Director of the Conservative Middle East Council; and Mr. Alexander Keynes.
Together with SDRPY staff, Saudi Ambassador to Yemen and SDRPY Supervisor-General Mohammed Al Jabir delivered a presentation to the UK delegation on the Kingdom’s development efforts in Yemen and the support that the program was providing to the Yemeni government through development projects in different sectors, namely: education, health, transportation, water, electricity, agriculture and fisheries, and government building construction. Amb. Al Jabir also explained that the Kingdom’s direct financial support to the Central Bank of Yemen as of 2019 amounted to USD 3.2 billion, and that this had helped to prevent sharp deterioration of the Yemeni economy.
Both sides discussed cooperation in the field of humanitarian relief and development work in Yemen, and the positive impact that could be achieved for the Yemeni people through the joint implementation of projects and continuous coordination of support.
The British delegation members expressed their pleasure at visiting the Kingdom and meeting Ambassador Al Jabir and his team. They also conveyed admiration for what they had seen of the program’s ongoing projects in Yemen, stressing that stability was the basic building block for the thorough development that Yemen now needed.
The Saudi side was represented by Shura Council Member Dr. Ghazi Faisal Binzagr; Abdullah Alghonaim, Director of the Political Department at the Saudi Embassy in Yemen; SDRPY Projects and Studies Director Eng. Hassan Alattas; SDRPY Planning Director Adel Qassadi; SDRPY Peacebuilding Portfolio Manager Abeer Al-Saud; SDRPY Finance Director Mazen Aba Al-Khail; SDRPY Editorial and Media Content Manager Mansour Alkhamis; SDRPY Creative Department Chief Abdullah Alsuwaian; and Walid Al-Musheit, SDRPY Public Affairs Officer.
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/
What’s ‘Stomach Infrastructure’? Check African Politics Dictionary
NAIROBI – Up and down the continent, African politics sees more than its share of chaos and corruption. Africans use colorful terms and phrases to describe the unfolding developments and, sometimes, make fun of them. A new online Dictionary of African Politics, published by Oxford University Press, tries to define these words.
In Nigeria, for instance, the term zoning has nothing to do with buildings or real estate. It describes power sharing between the north and south.
In Kenya, a three-piece suit refers to a party asking voters to back its full slate of candidates, for president, governor and member of parliament.
Oxford student Sa’eed Husaini, one of the dictionary’s authors, said he and his colleagues thought the project would give us an opportunity to basically shine a light on the diversity of words and diversity of meanings that are part of African politics. There is a lot of meaning that is being generated, a lot of new content words, like ‘stomach infrastructure,’ that will help us understand how Africa conducts contemporary politics.”
The term “stomach infrastructure” was coined by a politician in the 2015 elections in Nigeria. He promised people rice and chicken over development and won that election.
In Benin, switching of parties by politicians is called transhumance, which is the act of moving animals from one grazing ground to another.
In Ghana, supporting the president of one party and a member of parliament from another party is called skirt and blouse voting.
Another Kenyan term is “negotiated democracy,” which means the arranged sharing of power between communities BEFORE an election takes place.
Kimani Njogu, an African linguist, said people create and use such terms everywhere, acts of what he called “semantic expansion.”
“It brings in a certain playfulness in our politics, certain humor, ingenuity, relaxation of atmosphere, normalization of the politics, so that it’s not seen to be too removed from the day-to-day experiences of people,” Njogu said.
Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has seen this type of language throughout his long career.
“It’s not that they are being simplistic about complex issues, Odinga said. It’s just that they want to make it light. Sometimes you should crack a joke about those issues, but I think it’s a way of expression that in one hand tells you it’s not right, but also with a light touch. I think that’s part of the African culture.”
The Oxford dictionary covers 350 words commonly used in Africa since the introduction of multiparty democracy more than three decades ago.
Njogu said the dictionary would change over time, as old expressions lose their usefulness and people create new ones to comment on their politics.
Source: Voice of America
Luxury Cars Seized from African Leader Auctioned
A fleet of luxury, high-performance cars seized from the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president have been auctioned off for more than $23 million.
The 25 cars were seized by Swiss authorities after an investigation into money laundering. They once belonged to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is also vice president to Equatorial Guniea’s 40-year ruler President Theodora Obiang.
Among the cars sold Sunday were Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls Royces and a McLaren.
A rare white Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, one of only nine built, sold for $8.3million to an anonymous buyer.
Proceeds from the auction will go to a charity to fund social programs in the tiny oil-rich Central African country.
Obiang’s luxury lifestyle has draw foreign ire before. Last year, Brazilian officials seized $16 million in cash and high-end watches from a delegation traveling with Obiang.
He was given a three-year suspended sentence by a French court for spending millions of dollars of public funds on a Paris apartment, a private jet and a fleet of luxury cars.
Earlier, he entered into a $30 million settlement with U.S. authorities who accused him of using looted public funds to buy a California mansion and a vast collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including the crystal-encrusted white glove from Jackson’s “Bad” world tour.
Source: Voice of America
